“Time for three cheers? Not yet,” says Hyderabad shuttler Saina Nehwal, keeping her emotions in control after breaking into the top bracket of the world badminton rankings released on Thursday. She is now No.3.
“I am glad to be in the top three but the three cheers can wait until Sunday — as I aim to complete a hat-trick of titles,” Saina, who won the Indian Open Grand Prix Gold event in Chennai earlier this month and the Singapore Open Super Series last Sunday, told this newspaper from Jakarta.
She is currently playing the Indonesian Open. The defending champion defeated Bulgaria’s Petya Nedelcheva 21-12, 21-17 to advance into the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Her latest ranking notwithstanding, the Hyderabad shuttler is keeping her feet firmly on the ground. “It was only when I won two consecutive titles recently that I realised I could climb up the rankings.
“Before that it (improving the rankings) did not feature in my plans because I was concentrating on playing fewer tournaments this year and focussing more on my training,” Saina said.
“Previously, my performance was just limited to quarters and semifinals but winning titles has made me more confident. However, with the No.3 rank there will be more pressure and expectations to be met,” added the Arjuna and Padmashree awardee.
“I have not paid much importance to rankings... but now being World No.3, the top spot looks so near yet so far,” she said.
With Chinese players Yihan Wang and Xin Wang as the top two and Shixian Wang and Wang Lin fourth and fifth, Saina will have a tough task maintaining her ranking.
“To get into the top two will be difficult because of the broad margin... and the difference between the next two is minimal. So, I have to keep performing well in order to maintain my rank,” said Saina, who has 64791.3 points.
National chief coach Pullela Gopichand lauded his ward’s feat. “It is wonderful to be in the top three. The way she has been playing, she deserves it,” said Gopichand.
“With this milestone, there will be more pressure on her to perform as she will be seeded three, two or one in the coming tournaments,” added the Dronacharya Awardee.
There was more cheer for India as Chetan Anand, Parupalli Kashyap and Guru Sai Dutt improved their rankings to 16th, 27th and 44th spots respectively.